Comments on: What Do Sushi and Bicycles Have in Common?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:58:00 +0000

What do bicycles and sushi have in common? They’re too expensive. I remember when sushi wasn’t so expensive. It was just something you took to picnics or bought at the church bazaar. Now, it’s like $10 for a tiny little tray at the market. $25 for a big plate with teeny little pieces. I’m happy that stuff I used to get ridiculed for eating (as a child) is now trendy, but another part of me is annoyed that it’s gone so far “gourmet”. The same goes for bikes. I used to be able to buy parts pretty cheap at the K-mart, and fix the bike, but nowadays everything is so expensive, or it’s some kind of non-repairable module.

By: jaded

jaded — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:26:34 +0000

Clearly you haven’t been to North Carolina or a traditional Southern city. EVERYONE is trying to imitate “high-status” “high-class” lifestyles. I agree completely, you have to appeal to what people are interested in. Here in the Bay Area, biking is “green,” “healthy,” “active,” allows you to take advantage of the region’s “natural beauty” and “temperate climate.” How is this not marketing to the values of the region. (well the hipster tastes of the region).

In NC, none of this stuff is all that important. Green? There are plenty of trees near by. “Local food?” Everyone’s grandmother had a garden fully stocked with everything, and they have plenty of yard space to garden if they are so inclined. NC (and middle America) masses could care less about the trends here.

It really takes a critical mass of taste makers to help make something popular. The challenge: finding the right taste maker for your area.

By: Jack E Savage

Jack E Savage — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:54:20 +0000

Cycling just makes more sense, and it’s infinitely more enjoyable than sitting in traffic, or waiting on a canceled bus.

I biked from Lower Manhattan to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, early on Sunday morning, and the ride took me about 20 minutes. That’s probably about five miles, right? If I had tried to take a bus, or even a train, that trip could have taken as long as 90 minutes. I arrived at my destination well before my friend arrived, who drove his own car.

I then biked to Park Slope, Bushwick, Ridgewood, Queens, and Jackson Heights, discovering a world of neighborhoods and safe bike routes I hadn’t been aware of. Oh, and I went to Long Island City as well.

Imagine if I had tried to do all that by train or bus, or car. I’d still be stuck in the middle of Queens.

It’s easy to denigrate biking as merely fashionable, but it’s the most efficient and enjoyable means of transportation available.

The distance I biked in NYC this weekend would be applicable to any suburban area, so there’s little reason to think biking can only be marketed successfully to people trying to “get laid”. Actually, that approach might do more harm than any other approach.

However, biking does burn fat, so the sorority-loving Mr. Keg Party might be on to something. I’ve lost about 40 lbs since Thanksgiving ’09, and I think the biking may have something to do with that.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:03:34 +0000

I have misgivings about any plan to “tie cycling to high-status lifestyles.” When you create that connection, you risk validating the theme that biking is a “elite, liberal” activity, which is favored by “elite bureaucrats” at the expense of decent, hardworking mainstream Americans, who drive everywhere, of course.

Culture war is raging these days, mostly conducted by Fox News, Glen Beck, Sarah Palin and their ilk; and when something becomes fodder for that war it’s hard to have a rational conversation about it.

When Madison, for example, installed a bright red bike box at a downtown intersection, an out-of-town legislator ranted that “It’s basically about liberal extremists in Madison who hate cars and think everyone should bike to work,” and promised to introduce legislation to outlaw bike boxes. This legislation won’t get anywhere, but the political theater tells us something about the role of bikes as a cultural signifier.

Instead of making bikes “chic,” I would like us to find ways to think of bikes simply as transportation, with no cultural overtones that put off half the population. Instead of sushi, we should aspire to emulate cookie dough ice cream — something lefties and righties can enjoy. Or maybe vanilla.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:47:52 +0000

In Sydney Australia, cycling is booming, and public transport use is rising. Car travel is falling. It seems unlikely that cycling is cannabilizing share from transit/walking – it’s more likely that it’s shifting land use patterns that are responsible. The population of the bike-friendly inner city is rising, putting more people in the “bike catchment” area (as well as the public transport catchment area). The increasing density of the inner-city also creates more destinations within the area; a positive feedback cycle (pun intended).

As for the Copenhagenize vs Glover fight, they’re not really opposed to each other. One is presenting a strategy for city livers and the other is presenting a stategy for the US suburbs. I think the city is more fertile territory though.

By: Zufechten

Zufechten — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:59:28 +0000

Gloria Steinem was wrong: fish DO need bicycles!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:32:28 +0000

I met a random dude in Sternberg Park in Williamsburg yesterday while hanging out and watching some softball (If you’re ever bored in this general area, go to Sternberg Park and watch some softball. Even if the softball isn’t so great, you shan’t be disappointed with the atmosphere!). He had lived in Brooklyn his whole life (roughly forty-some years) since his parents immigrated from Puerto Rico back in the day. We ended up sharing a six pack and chatting for a few hours, and I asked him about the mountain bike I saw leaned up against the backstop in front of the bleachers we were sitting on.

“Oh yeah, just got that a few weeks ago. It’s only the second time I’ve gotten to ride it, but hey, I love it! Left the car at home today! Everyone’s riding bikes these days, so I figured, why not?”

All this dude needed was to see other people riding bikes in his neighborhood. Of course this is still in an urban area, but this man was far outside of the “predisposed” demographic, if you will.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:46:14 +0000

From what I can tell — knowing little about sushi’s history — cycling has a demographic issue. In particular, age. I saw a talk by the San Francisco bike commissioner that basically showed bike gains in that city take away from pedestrian and transit riders — while car use grows in tandem. Nobody is being swayed who wasn’t already predisposed to it. That should be obvious to even the most casual bike evangelical.